The Rocky Port Incident Revealed! One Piece’s 10 Special Questions Are Here.

One Piece is loaded with much detail, such that there are SBS Volumes in every manga volume to fill in the blanks and to address plot points that may not need to be inserted into the manga itself.

This special Q&A that was answered on October 31, 2024 is said to hold the secrets for the future of One Piece.

Translations courtesy of Pewpiece, The Will of Marco, and Inumaru08

Question 1: Luffy’s Goggles

A reader asks: “When Luffy is using gear 5, he pulls out things like goggles and baseball helmet from what looks like a Hagoromo (feathered raiment). please tell us how it works!”

Oda’s response is: “It is the entrance to Nika’s fantasy”

This is quite a fascinating response and the perfect first question to start off.

This says a few things.

With Oda’s answer, it is an indication of the nature of Devil Fruits as being born from the dreams of people from the past, as Dr. Vegapunk theorized.

While this is clearly a Gear 5 ability, the Hito-Hito no Mi, Model: Nika is a Mythical Zoan that reflects the very nature of Devil Fruits as a fulfillment of fantasy and conviction put together or the dream come alive.

The Hagoromo smoke ribbon found in other Awakened Zoans is drawn that way to signify the Awakening status as humans becoming like gods.

There is a chance that the smoke ribbon could have other powers that it can provide Awakened Zoans, such as accessing the memories and desires of the animal soul in the Fruit, leading to either new forms or new tools.

Alternatively, imagine a scenario where someone is able to enter the mind of the Devil Fruit user or the Devil Fruit itself through the Hagoromo. That would be fun.

Question 2: Sabo’s Mera Mera no Mi 

A reader asks: Sabo inherited the Mera-Mera no Mi (Flame-Flame Fruit). he’s demonstrating its power to the fullest. did he do some training to properly use the Mera-Mera no Mi (Flame-Flame Fruit)?

Oda responds, saying that Sabo trains every day and because

On the one hand, those memories could be referring to Ace’s fighting style before eating the fruit since Ace ate it long after the latter believed that Sabo died.

On the other hand, it is still impossible for said memories to be connected to any form of Devil Fruit training because, again, Sabo has never seen the more mature Ace personally and would have no idea of how his Devil Fruit works outside of reading the news, which would not be enough of a connection.

It is frustrating for me personally as this response from Oda does not actually directly address the question.

The question could be helpful in explaining how some people acclimate to Devil Fruit powers but instead

Sabo would not even need those memories considering how often he fights for the Revolution Army and that he was trained by Fishman Karate master Hack, such that he used Fishman Karate in coordination with his Devil Fruit

This detail may not be important for the future of the manga and might be Oda entertaining a question he felt needed to be answered but as far as my analysis of this is concerned, it is a bit off-putting.

Question 3:  Dragon Living with Luffy

A reader asks if Dragon has ever lived with young Luffy at any point?

Oda responds: “No, at least not in what Luffy remembers. He is different with Kuma because he is the leader of the Revolutionary Army and if their parentage relationship is revealed, it’ll endanger Luffy’s life. I wonder what kind of feeling he felt when he is forced to leave his family, and what his thoughts were when he saw his son in Loguetown.”

This does hint that Dragon might have lived with Luffy and could serve as an important plot point once the two meet.

It will not be an emotional paternal bond similar to others like Kuma and Bonney, Rebecca and Kyros or Sanji with Zeff but it could bring out a different side to Luffy, considering his varied familial interactions with his biological grandfather Garp and adopted brothers Ace and Sabo.

Question 4: Saber of Xebec

A reader asks if Blackbeard’s ship, being named the “Saber of Xebec”

Oda responds with an interesting line, that “Xebec” is a sailing ship and so it could be a coincidence…”or maybe not”.

The placement of this question suggests that whatever the answer will be in the manga, it will be crucial to Blackbeard’s characterization.

As the man who took two Devil Fruits into his body, the ruler of Rocks’ old hideout of Hachinosu, and a seeker of the One Piece, Blackbeard

In Chapter 1107: “I’ve Been Looking For You” , we received a hint that Blackbeard may be of a special lineage.

It might not be the Bucaneer race of Bartholomew Kuma that was also revealed during the Egghead Island arc but Saturn and Catarina Devon’s emphasis on Blackbeard’s unique biology and lineage suggest a potential connection to Rocks D. Xebec, a man so feared the World Government had to erase his feats, namely the God Valley Incident, from the history books.

Question 5: How Shanks Learned Divine Departure

A reader asks: “The ‘Kamusari’ (Divine Departure) attack that took out Eustass Kid in one hit, was that move taught by roger or did shanks learned it by imitating him?

Oda responds: “He remembered it because he always looks up to Roger. It is not just something that anyone from the Roger pirates can imitate so Shanks’ talent is quite astonishing.”

With this statement, we see Shanks’ learning capacity is part of what makes him such a powerful individual.

His admiration for Roger was such that he could replicate the Pirate King’s most powerful techniques and this could even be why Shanks refuses to acquire Devil Fruit powers as he wants to be a Haki master like Roger.

This could also be a hint to Shanks’ power when we see more of him in the Final Saga.

Question 6: Cross Guild Bounty System

A reader asks about the exact bounty system of Cross Guild, Buggy, Mihawk, and Crocodile’s Marine-hunting company.

Oda responds with the following:

The Fleet Admiral Sakazuki is worth Five Crowns.

An Admiral is worth Three Crowns.

A Vice Admiral is worth Five Stars

A Rear Admiral is worth Three Stars.

Captain and Commodore Ranks are worth One Star.

Field Officers (Commander and below) are worth 1 Million Berries while Company Officers below them are just 100,000 Berries.

One Crown equals Ten Stars and One Star is worth 100 Million Berries.

This means that One Crown is 1 Billion Berries.

In other words, Sakazuki has the highest official bounty in the series

Famous Marines may not follow this as shown with Garp and Koby.

In spite of being a vice-admiral in rank, Monkey D. Garp is considered an Admiral-level threat and is given a Three-Star Bounty.

Even as a Captain, Koby’s reputation as the Hero of the Rocky Port Incident gave him the distinction of earning a 500 Million Berry bounty, the same amount Luffy was worth after defeating the Warlord Donquixote Doflamingo in Dressrosa.

Will this bounty system play a part in the Final Saga?

Question 7: Kuzan’s Job in the Blackbeard Pirates

One of the more interesting aspects of post-timeskip One Piece is the truth behind Kuzan’s allegiances.

Once again, Oda adds layers to his response.

A reader asks: As the 10th ship captain of the Blackbeard pirates, what kind of work does kuzan (aokiji) ac-tually do? and does he have subordinates?

Oda responds is that Kuzan does have subordinates but does not obey everything his Admiral Blackbeard says.

For Kuzan, being part of a pirate crew does not necessarily mean he must do evil deeds, rather it implies living freely.

However, it seems Kuzan has caused many casualties in his time as a pirate.

This might be incidental due to his missions involving the capture of Pudding from Whole Cake Island or from bounty hunters and Marines going after him or the Blackbeard Pirates.

However, there could be another sinister implication.

Because of Kuzan’s anger towards the injustices of the World Government and likely a lot of anger towards his own part in Ohara and other atrocities, Kuzan is taking it out on Marine facilities or any convenient targets, possibly even weaker entities such as random ports and commercial vessels.

Although his fight with Garp showed his remorse in fighting his teacher, Kuzan is still unmoved by his choice to stay with Teach.

Is Kuzan pulling an Uryu Ishida play of sabotaging the Blackbeard Pirates from within or does it really look like that he has truly found his place among some of the most notorious scalawags in One Piece?

Question 8: World Military Draft

A reader asks: what kind of system is the “World Military Draft” that added Fujitora and Ryokugyu to the Marine forces?

Oda explains that since World Government-affiliated nations have their own standing army of soldiers for protection, the World Military Draft was the World Government’s conscription program to gather the most promising of those private soldiers.

However, it is this same draft that became one of the triggers for the recent “Eight Nation Revolution”, which began after the Revolutionary Army’s assault on the recent Levely and led to eight nations being taken over by rebel armies.

Since the draft took away not just two powerful men (Issho and Aramaki) but it also weakened the military strength of these national armies, which contributed to the Revolution’s success in so many nations and could escalate given the news we heard in Chapter 1054: “Flame Emperor”.

The key details here are the political implications and the importance of the Eight Nations Revolution, indicating that they will be featured in the Final Saga.

Question 9: Rocky Port Incident FINALLY Revealed

A reader asks about the Rocky Port Incident that led to Koby being hailed as a Hero

Oda graciously provides a cohesive summary of the Rocky Port Incident.

Trafalgar Law heard about the Pirate Island Hachinosu and an important Poneglyph that was there.

So Law hijacked a massive passenger ship called the “Rocky Port” and infiltrated the island.

It so happened that the Rocky Port was carrying VIPs, namely the King and important noblemen of a certain country.

This was not all intended by Law since he only wanted to get a smuggling vessel with the same nation’s flag since that kingdom had dealings with Hachinosu.

Anyway, as a result of this plan, Law ended up in the Pirate Island and clashed with the resident pirates there.

Soon after, Koby and Blackbeard separately arrived on the island for their own reasons, leading to the three unexpectedly joining forces to overthrow the ruling pirate of that island, which we learn in Chapter 1059: “The Matter Regarding Captain Koby” was a former Rocks Pirate Ochoku.

Because of this incident, Blackbeard became the “king” of pirate island, Law was recognized as one of the seven warlords of the sea, and Koby was hailed as a hero.

This does finally connect all the dots to that dangling plot thread.

Even with his two Devil Fruits and powerful crew, Blackbeard mentioned needing help from Koby to deal with Ochoku but it seemed like Law was also of some help, although Law did commit one act there and that was to use his Ope Ope no Mi to steal the hearts of 100 pirates, who are still alive and currently under Blackbeard’s command, awaiting for their hearts and revenge, which in a way was fulfilled when Blackbeard defeated Law on Winner Island.

Question 10: Figarland Garling’s Strength

A reader asks: “During the ‘God Valley Incident’, Garling went and confronted the (Rocks) Pirates. But how strong is his combat abilities?”

Oda responds: “He’s strong. There’s a reason for his strength.”

This response indicates that Oda intends to reveal the truth of Garling’s power in due time within the manga.

However, there seems to be special emphasis on “reason for his strength” here, something that I do not think we have seen being said of other characters, besides say Blackbeard’s unusual body.

It is possible that Garling might already have a Devil Fruit or his strength is in a unique Haki skill that has yet to be shown by anyone else or an entirely different attribute that sets Garling apart from his fellow Gorosei.

Source: Twitter

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